Deputy Secretary General Rosemary DiCarlo briefed on Security Council following the previous collapse on the day of the Black Sea Initiative aimed at bringing grain and fertilizer from the region to the world.
“The longer this war drags on, the more dangerous its consequences, including the possibility of a broader conflict,” she warned.
“For the sake of the Ukrainian people and for the sake of our global community, this senseless and absurd war must end.”
A ‘living hell’
Ms. DiCarlo provides damage figures since the start of the war on 24 February 2022.
“More than 500 days since the start of the full-blown invasion of Russia, life in Ukraine remains a ‘hell on earth’, as the Secretary-General described it,” she said.
So far, 9,287 people have been killed and more than 16,300 injured, according to the United Nations human rights office. OHCHRalthough the actual number may be higher.
Children were particularly hard hit, with 537 people killed. Last year, Ukraine had the highest number of children killed and injured, and the most attacks on schools and hospitals.
“As the Secretary-General has consistently emphasized, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a flagrant violation of uncharted and international law,” she said.
Nuclear safety concerns
She also mentioned the situation at the besieged Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which has been under Russian control since the first weeks of the war.
In recent days, experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) stationed there heard a series of explosions seemingly far away from the nuclear plant.
“They are a stark reminder of the potential nuclear safety and security risks the facility faces during a military conflict in this country,” she said.
Provide aid to millions of people
As fighting rages in Ukraine, the United Nations and partners continue to deliver aid, reaching more than 5 million people so far this year, with more than 65 interagency convoys reaching frontline areas .
She said humanitarians were still unable to reach the Russian-controlled areas of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, where some 3.7 million people need assistance. Engagement with both Moscow and Kiev is ongoing.
Access is also important after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam last month, which devastated communities along the Dnipro River and affected local ecosystems.
Longing to go home
Meanwhile, displacement remains a serious concern. More than 6.3 million Ukrainians are living as refugees, and an estimated 5.1 million are internal migrants (IDPs). UN agency IOM said some 4.76 million people have returned to their communities since the war began in February 2022, including 1.1 million refugees.
Although most of the remaining refugees and IDPs want to return to their homes, insecurity makes this practically impossible as Ukraine is currently one of the most exploited countries in the world. .
Violation of ‘indiscriminate’ rights
Ms. DiCarlo also reported on the “heartbreaking record of human rights abuses” during the war. Abuses include arbitrary deprivation of life, arbitrary detention and forced disappearance, torture and ill-treatment, and conflict-related sexual violence.
The latest report by the United Nations office for human rights, OHCHR, records 864 individuals in Russian detention, with many cases leading to forced disappearances. More than 90% of civilian prisoners are said to have suffered torture or ill-treatment, including sexual violence.
Justice and Accountability
“We are also deeply concerned about the mass execution of 77 alleged civilians while they were arbitrarily detained by the Russian Federation, as reported by OHCHR,” she said.
The UN human rights office also recorded 75 cases of arbitrary detention by Ukrainian security forces, most of whom were suspected of conflict-related criminal offenses. In most cases, 57% of torture and ill-treatment occurred.
“All victims of human rights abuses deserve justice and accountability, no matter which side of the front line they come from. Punishment must not exist,” she said.
Russia is ready to reconsider
In his address to the Council, First Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia Dmitriy Polyanskiy mentioned the decision to terminate the Black Sea Initiative after one year of operation.
He said most corn and wheat exports go to richer countries while the least developed countries receive 3% and the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) even less.
“These facts are so unreliable, and they speak for themselves, and so the Black Sea Initiative has had little difficulty simply transitioning from humanitarian to commercial activity. trade,” he said, through an interpreter.
Mr. Polyanskiy further stated that despite the UN’s efforts, there had been “no progress” in persuading Western countries to comply with a parallel agreement on Russian exports.
“The Russian Federation will be ready to consider resumption only if concrete results are achieved instead of promises and guarantees from Western capitals,” he said.
‘Blackmail’ and ‘hunger game’
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said his country wants to continue exporting to international markets and Russia is “blackmailing” the world.
“This extortion affects the lives of millions of Ukrainians and tens of millions of others around the world, mainly in Africa and Asia, who face the threat of wages,” he said. food and hunger increased.
Mr. Kuleba recalls that the grain initiative led to a drop in global food prices.
He called on UN member states to “resolutely demand that Russia resume its participation in the agreement in good faith and stop its Game of Death.”
